6 minute read
Following in Ignatius’ Footsteps The Pilgrimage, the Faculty and Our Found Spirituality
By Robert Stephan, Director for Ignatian Formation and Adult Spirituality
JUST OVER FIVE HUNDRED YEARS AGO, Iñigo of Loyola, set out on a journey that would change his life and have a profound impact on the world. As he moved from his family’s home in the Basque country across Spain, he gradually shed the physical trappings of privilege and slowly began to find a new spiritual freedom. Through community and friendship, prayer and reflection as well as a deep commitment, the unruly soldier and courtier, Iñigo, became the Saint Ignatius of Loyola whose legacy we continue to follow.
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This past summer a group of Loyola faculty and staff set out to follow in the footsteps of St. Ignatius. Originally planned for the summer of 2020, the pandemic delayed the journey for two years. Thankfully there were no broken bones or shattered legs* along our journey, but in the companionship and sharing, there was a sense of rejuvenation and healing. After the long years of distance and hybrid learning, there was joy and gratitude in the ability not only to be together but to journey with one another.
“Help us open our minds and hearts to what You have to say to us,” prayed Fr. JT Tanner, SJ at our first dinner in Ignatius’ home town. A Jesuit at Blessed Sacrament Church in Hollywood and a former theology teacher at Loyola High School, Fr. Tanner served as our chaplain during the pilgrimage. His invitation to us in that opening prayer set a theme throughout our pilgrimage. In each stop along the way there were new invitations to openness and growth. As Teri Kawamata, Director of Faculty and Latin teacher, noted on the first day, we had the special opportunity “to share these moments with people from diverse viewpoints and find God through and in them, too.”
We began our encounter with the legacy of Ignatius in Azpeitia, his home town in Northern Spain. We visited the town and the complex of Basilica, museum and retreat house that surrounds the structure where Ignatius was born and recovered from his injuries. Tyler Lancaster ’10, Information Resources Clerk and Archivist, said that in these visits “one finds the flame remains quietly warm, as in the privileged Mass enjoyed in Loyola’s reconstructed upper floors, the exact location of his inspiration lost to time and the mundane, and instead imbued into the atmosphere.”
From the rich, green valley of Azpeitia, we boarded the bus again to make our way across Northern
GOING GLOBAL
GOING GLOBAL
The Benedictine monastery of Montserrat, nestled in the mountains of Catalonia, Spain.
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Spain. We stopped at the castle of Javier, the home of St. Francis Xavier, one of the original Jesuits and a roommate of Ignatius at the University of Paris. Like Ignatius, his “openness” led him to places he could never have imagined, traveling to India, Japan and to the coast of China.
Our journey continued with a stop in Zaragoza and a visit to the immense Cathedral, following the route Ignatius took hundreds of years ago. In returning to a place she had visited as a student, Kaitlin Pardo, Spanish teacher, Director of CY programs and Associate Director of Equity & Inclusion, noticed a new expansiveness in her perspective. This time she “was seeking to go deeper, searching for something richer” and “was primed to find God in all things.”
We next arrived at the dramatic “serrated mountains” of Montserrat. After hiking and visiting the grounds, we prayed before Our Lady of Montserrat. As we left the shrine, we took time to light candles and pray for those who had shared their intentions with us. Like Ignatius, we were able to reflect on our lives and responsibilities.
Sarah Gacina, English teacher and moderator of Loyola’s The Loyalist newspaper, wrote afterwards about the experience at Montserrat, “We do need the time to find out for ourselves who we are and where we fit in, what we can offer to this world on a small and large scale.”
From the heights of Montserrat, we followed Ignatius’ trail to the town of Manresa. We stayed in the simple accommodations of the hostel attached to the Jesuit retreat center built over the cave where Ignatius spent much of his time in Manresa. Math teacher
—Pope Francis, Address to the students of the Jesuit Schools of Italy and Albania, June 7, 2013
The well-worn shoes of St. Ignatius.
Loyola’s pilgrims in the mountains of Northern Spain.
and Summer Session Director Judy Dell’Amico noted that seeing the places where Ignatius “prayed, reflected, experienced doubt, spent so much time and where that prayerful reflective time led to the Spiritual Exercises of today” was a reminder of how “just one person can make a difference.” In considering its continuing impact on us today, Vianney Truong ’10, science teacher, said, “I saw how our retreat at the quiet, serene Manresa brought us the freedom to be truly present to each other and ourselves.”
The relatively quiet days in Montserrat and Manresa gave way to the bustle of city life in our last two stops. After his long stay in Manresa, Ignatius went to Barcelona to find passage on to Rome and Jerusalem. In the quicker pace of this urban context, the humbleness and simplicity of Ignatius’ life prompted all of us to ask questions similar to the ones that theology teacher Mike Shawver pondered in his reflections. “To what extent am I willing to make sacrifices to achieve my goals? What obstacles do I need to overcome?”
The last part of our journey took us to Rome, where Ignatius spent the final 16 years of his life as the head of the Jesuit order. His days of traveling now over, Ignatius guided his companions spread throughout the world. As Christian Astran, theology teacher and Campus Ministry Assistant, commented, “It was in this spirit of openly experiencing new places and people that St. Ignatius met and formed the original companions who would go on to found the Society with him.”
The healing power of Ignatius’ vision was felt in all we had experienced together along his path. Douglas Brown, English and social studies teacher and Director of the Office of Equity & Inclusion, wrote, “The deep pandemic made the Magis feel impossible. In fact, it became a word none of us wanted to say or hear. Every moment of our pilgrimage has become an opportunity to take back the Magis. Every moment of our journey we have learned to reclaim the Magis and offer it as a simple grace to those we encounter.”
Though our pilgrimage has physically ended, spiritually it has just begun. We go forward as companions, following the steps of Ignatius.
Loyola English teacher Sarah Gacina lights a candle at Montserrat. On the last leg of their Ignatian pilgrimage, Loyola faculty and staff participate in Mass at the Gesu Church in Rome.
